| chapter 36: divided we fall |

DAWN

Thomas and I helped steady Newt on his feet. He couldn't stop staring at the spot where his friend just disappeared. 'I can't believe it,' Newt whispered. 'I can't believe he just did that.'

I shook my head, unable to reply. Seeing Alby go down like awoke an ill and disturbing pain inside of me. It felt worse than any physical kind of hurt I'd ever felt before.

I'd never liked Alby that much, but seeing him sacrifice himself and seeing Newt struggling to break free from our hold, broke something inside of me. Of course we could fight, of course we could try to break through the Grievers, and try to kill the Creators. But it would never give us back what we lost. The guilt and empty feeling of loss, we would have to live with that forever.

Minho moved forward taking my attention away from the Grievers. 'We can't waste what he did,' He said, almost stern. Then he turned to Thomas. 'We'll fight 'em if we have to, make a path to the Cliff for you and Teresa. Get in the Hole and do your thing-we'll keep them off until you scream for us to follow.'

Thomas looked at each of us and then at the Grievers, and nodded. 'Hopefully they'll go dormant for a while. We should only need a minute or so to punch in the code.'

'How can you guys be so heartless?' Newt murmered, the disgust visible on his face. 

I took his hand and felt how he was trembling. 

He didn't look at me but let me take his hand anyway.

'What do you want, Newt?' Minho said. 'Should we all dress up and have a funeral?' 

I shot Minho an angry glare, but Newt didn't respond, still staring at the spot where the Grievers had ripped Alby apart.

Minho continued. 'Alby didn't wanna go back to his old life. He freaking sacrificed himself for us and they aren't attacking, so maybe it worked. We'd be heartless if we wasted it.'

Newt only shrugged and closed his eyes. He pinched my hand so suddenly that I winced. But I knew he needed a way to get rid of the burning pain inside of him and so I let him.

Minho turned around to the Gladers behind us. 'Listen up! Number one priority is to protect Thomas and Teresa. Get them to the Cliff and the Hole so-' He was cut off by the sounds of the Grievers coming to life. 

I looked up in horror. The creatures on both sides of our group seemed to have noticed us again. Spikes were popping in and out of blubbery skin, their bodies shuderred and pulsed. I felt a horrible need to throw Frypan's last meal out of my stomach.

Suddenly, in unison, the monsters moved forward, slowly, instruments unfolding, pointed at us, ready to kill. The Grievers steadily charged torward us. Alby's sacrifice had failed miserably.

Thomas grapped Minho's arm. 'Somehow I have to get through that!' He nodded towards the rolling pack of Grievers between us and the Cliff. They looked like one big mass of rumbling, spiked blubber, glistening with flashes of lights off steel. They were even more monstrous in the gray light. 

Minho and Newt exchanged a long look.

'They're coming!' Teresa yelled. 'We have to do something!'

'You lead,' Newt finally said to Minho, his voice barely more than a whisper. 'Make a bloody path for Tommy and the girl. Do it.'

Minho nodded at once, a steel look of resolve hardening his features. Then he turned toward the Gladers. 'We head straight for the Cliff! Fight through the middle, push the shuckin' things toward the walls! What matters most is getting Thomas and Teresa to the Griever Hole!'

I looked at Newt, and he looked at me. My fear reflected in Newt's eyes.

'Ready!' Minho screamed.

I took a deep breath and gave Newt a quick peck on his lips. For a second I felt him relax under the touch. But when I let hiplaced my lips on his. A messy, teary promise that I was going to try to make it through and get out of this mess alive.

We broke apart and I could see the same promise mirrored in his eyes. He held his spear firmly in his hand with a grim look on his face. 

'For Lisa and Alby,' I whispered and he nodded. Then I let go of his hand and took an arrow from my quiver. I had practised running with a loaded bow back in the Glade. It felt like years ago...

'Now!' Minho screamed. And without waiting for a response he ran forward.

The Gladers shouted their battle cry and I felt a flame burn in my chest. With a scream of defiance I released my first arrow, right in a Griever its head, but that alone wasn't enough to shut it down. Quickly I took another arrow. The Griever roared at me, and I bit my lip, forcing myself to hold my ground.

'For Lisa,' I mumbled and let the arrow fly into its mouth.

The creature made a disgusting choking noise. Without doubting I took another arrow and shot it at the spot where its heart should be. Again the Griever roared, the arrow visible in its troat.

I felt like throwing up but swallowed it and took my knife from my boots.

With a scream I jumped forward and pushed it into the monster its head. His mouth filled with spikes sharper than my arrows roared dangerously close at me. But I screamed and with all the strength I could muster I pushed the knife further into its skull. If it even had one.

Suddenly the Griever dove forwards, throwing me across the corridor. My body crashed against the wall, rattled my bones and the world went black for a moment. I blinked rapidly, trying to get the blur away before my eyes. Slowly I stood up, seeking support by the wall. The Griever I just fought lay on the ground, my knife still in its head.

It appeared dead but I didn't believe it. Carefully I moved forward towards the monster.

'Dawn!' 

I turned around and saw another Griever charging up from behind me. Newt was trying to run toward me but would never make it in time. I reached for my bow, but the Griever already raised its tail. I couldn't find my bow! Panic washed through me but I didn't dare to turn around and search for it.

'Dawn! Run!' Newt screamed once again while pushing his spear into another Griever.

But I couldn't run. My whole body was numb with fear.

The Griever roared and tried to hit me with its tail. I yelled and jumped away at the very last second. The tail hit the ground where I just stood seconds ago. Hopelessly I searched the ground for my bow and in that little second that I turned myself around to the whole word seemed to slow down.

Newt screamed my name.

The Griever roared and tried to hit me again with his tail.

I let out a desperate scream as I dove out of the way and hit the stones. Hard.

A groan escaped my mouth and I tried to open my eyes. Everything was blurry, I must have hit my head. Suddenly I saw my bow, without doubting I reached for it. Pain shot through my head as I did, making me feel dizzy and sick.

'Dawn!' Newt reached me and kneeled down next to me. 'Come on!' He wrapped my arm around his shoulder. 'You've gotta stand up!' He yelled desperately.

A pained yelp left my lips as I tried to push myself up. Pain flashed through my whole body and the world turned around in a blurry mess of colors and screams. I bit my lip and tried to focus on Newt's arm around my shoulders. Suddenly the world was clear again. My eyes widened.

The sounds, clashes, screams, moaning wails, roars of engines, spinning saws, snapping blades, the screech of spikes against the floor, hair-raising pleas for help, it all grew to a loud echo in my head, became unbearable.

I saw a Griever marching past us, a hand hanging out of its mouth. Blood like a liquid river floaded out of his mouth. I chocked on the stench of blood.

'Don't look,' Newt ordered me, turning my face toward him. His eyes scanned my face, looking if I was okay. But I wasn't, and he knew it. Nothing was okay.

'The Griever,' I said, taking another arrow.

Newt shook his head. 'He went after someone else.' 

I groaned and finally stood up. 'We have to fight.'

'Just stay alive,' Newt whispered.

I stared at him for a couple of seconds, then placed my hand on his cheek. My fingers tracing the little blood trail that went from his hairline to his chin. Then I turned around and ran back into the fight.

Grievers were everywhere, running down the Gladers like it was their only goal in life, it might just have been. My eyes scanned the small hallway. At least we'd managed to make a path for Thomas, Teresa and Chuck who were now running behind each other, holding each others hand. They had almost reached the Cliff.

My eyes widened when I caught sight of a Griever marchering towards Chuck.

I raised my bow and let the arrow fly. The Griever roared, probably not so much from the pain but more out of annoyance of being distracted. But my arrow had done it's job, distracting the beast enough so its spikes missed Chuck by only an inch. I saw the boy turning back with a look of horror on its face. My heart ached by the sight of his face.

'Keep running!' I screamed, gesturing for the boy to look forward again.

Then I took another arrow and shot it in the Grievers belly. The monster now turned all its attention towards me. I took a step backwards, almost falling over because of a sudden wave of dizziness. Then, forcing myself to focus, I raised my bow. My arms were trembling and I couldn't get a sharp vision of the Griever. Hoping I would do at least some damage I let the arrow fly. It hit him right in his forehead.

But the Griever didn't seem bothered by it at all, in fact its speed only seemed to increase and suddenly it was standing before me, swinging its tail at me. This time I wasn't fast enough to jump out of the way.

The world was spinning around me and for a moment I was weightless.

Then the ground came rushing back to me. The impact rattled my bones and made me scream.

My eyes were closing, darkness pulling at me but I couldn't give into it. I reached for the last knife in my boot. Holding it steady in my hand, like a lifeline. On hands and knees I crawled away from the Griever.

It moaned and groaned as it followed me, like a predator stalking its prey. Then the beast lifted itself up, as if it was planning to fall down on me and swallow me whole. From my position on the ground the thing looked even more hideous.

Its spikes were pointed at me and I raised my knife in a hopeless attempt to defend myself. This was the end game. My last sight would be this horrible things with its deadly spikes.

The Griever pointed one of his spikes at me. I tried to push myself up, to roll away, but I couldn't.

The spike came down in my shoulder and I screamed.

It pinned me down against the ground, sending sharp pangs through my body. Blood colored the floor red, drowning me in a puddle of my own blood. My view became blurry, colored spots dancing before my eyes. A scream was ripped from my throat, high and pained.

I turned my head in a desperate attempt to find Newt before I would die. Gladers were fighting everywhere. But we were losing. There were only a few of us left. Most of the Gladers didn't even have a weapon anymore. They were just trying to avoid the Grievers and their deadly weapons.

I just hoped with whole my heart that Thomas, Teresa and Chuck had made it through the Hole. Since I would not be here to see the end of the story.

The Griever roared in my face, spit flew everywhere. My stomach twisted when I saw the horrible color of blood in its mouth.

I took a shaky breath and closed my eyes. 'I'm sorry Lisa,' I breathed. A horrible pain shot through my shoulder, numbing all my senses and then everything went black.

| 𝙰𝚄𝚃𝙷𝙾𝚁'𝚂 𝙽𝙾𝚃𝙴 |

Poor Dawn...Let's hope she makes it out alive! ;)

The first book is almost finished! But don't worry! I have the sequel ready and set to go! I hope you will all join me on this trip through the last chapters and stick with Lisa and Dawn a little longer.

Have a great new year everyone!

xx nelly